Receptacle closure



Feb. 14, 1950 E. GREENE 2,497,599

RECEPTACLE CLOSURE Filed April s, 1947 zj'gzif 3a 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l N V E N TOR. foaswaxmvfieasms v will! Feb. 14, 1950 E. GREENE 2,497,599

RECEPTACLE CLOSURE Filed April 3, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NIE N TOR. [oaswonnv GREENE Patented Feb. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BECEPTAOLE CLOSURE Edgeworth Greene, Great Notch, N. 1., assignor to Inter-Seal Corporation, Spring Lake, N. 1.,1 corporation of Delaware Application April 3. 1947. Serial No. 739.108.

Claims. (Cl. 215-22) This invention relates to closures for use with bottles and similar vessels for the p rpose of preventing unauthorized refilling thereoi', and is concerned more particularly with a novel fitment oi the non-reflllable type, which is more sensitive and, therefore, more efi'ective and reliable in op eration than prior similar devices. The new closure notonly resists refilling of the bottle, to which it is applied, by methods involving the use of vacuum, pressure, gravity, or shaking, or a combination of such expedients, but also prevents or limits spilling oi the contents of the bottle, if the latter is accidentally knocked on its side. While the fitment normally closes the end of the bottle sumciently tightly to prevent ingress of dirt and insects, the contents or a bottle provided with the fitment may be freely poured from the bottle without preliminary manual adjustment of the fitment. The new device consists of only a few parts, most of which can be made easily and at low cost of synthetic plastics by molding operations, and it can be readily assembled and mounted on a bottle. When so installed, the closure is inconspicuous and does not detract from the appearance of the bottle.

The fitment of the invention, in its preferred form, includes a casing and a cover which to-' gether define a chamber containing a valve, a float member, a weight, and a movable guard. The casing and cover have openings at their opposite ends and, when the bottle is in upright position, the upper end of the guard substantially closes the opening through the cover and the valve closes the casing opening. The valve is held in place on a seat around the casing opening by the float member, which rests on the valve, and by the weight, which rests on the float member. Upon inversion of the bottle for pouring, the valve, float member, and weight move away from the casing opening, until the weight engages and moves the guard to open the cover' opening, such movement of the parts continuing, until the guard strikes a part of the cover and is arrested thereby.

Attempts to refill the bottle in upright position by a method involving shaking the bottle are resisted by the fitment, because the valve is held on its seat by films of liquid which adhere to the valve and casing and cannot be readily broken. If the bottle is held inverted during attempted refilling, one or the other of two situations arise, depending upon the angle of inclination of the bottle neck. If the bottle neck is held inclined at less than a critical angle, which may be 30 to the horizontal, the weight rests upon an inclined surface of the guard, so that it is urged by gravity against the float member and acts through the member to hold the valve on its seat. If the bottle is held at more than the critical angle to the horizontal and liquid enters the fitment, the buoyancy of the member and valve in the liquid causes them to move together toward the seat and the valve closes the casing opening before any substantial quantity of liquid can enter the bottle.

The sensitivity of the new closure in resisting attempted refilling is achieved by the-use of selected materials for the casing and the float member, by the use of a float member of novel construction, and by proper formation of the guard. When the casing and float member are made of appropriate materials, the float member will move upward along the interior of the casing freely and without sticking, when the bottle is in inclined inverted position and liquid enters the fitment in attempted refilling. Such free movement of the fioat member is aided by so constructing the fioat member, that it will float in the liquid with its longitudinal axis inclined to the horizontal, and this result is attained by so forming the float member, that its end adiacent the valve is more buoyant in the liquid than the end remote from the valve. The difi'erence in buoyancy at opposite ends of the fioat may be obtained by forming the member with a proper weight distribution or by making the float member hollow and open at its upper end, so that air can be trapped within the closed end of the member by the incoming liquid, the open end construction being preferred because of ease of manufacture.

The valve is preferably buoyant and is made so by forming it either of buoyant material or a combination of materials, one of which is buoyant. The valve and float member normally act together as a buoyant valve means preventing refilling of the bottle, and the valve and float are preferably formed as separate parts, in order that they may be constructed in accordance with the disclosure of Patent 2,278,924 to include an air release valve permitting the easy breaking of a vacuum that may develop in the bottle because of temperature changes.

For a, better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one form of the newclosure mounted on a bottle;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the guard of the closure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing the parts in the position, which they assume, when the bottle is in inclined inverted position;

Figs. 6 and 6 are longitudinal sectional views through modified forms of a float member that may be employed in the closure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modifled valve;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a modified guard;

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of another form of fiment of the invention installed on a bottle;

Fi 10 is a sectional of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary longituview on the line ill-It dinal sectional view of the valve on its seat on the casing; and

Fig. 12 is an elevational view showing how the float member of the fitment of Fig. 9 floats in liquid.

The fitment in the form shown in Fig. l includes a generally cylindrical casing m, which is insertable into the neck ii of a bottle. At its lower end, the casing has an opening 12, the upper edge of which is rounded off to form a valve seat surrounding the opening. The inner surface of the casing is formed with guiding projections which may take the form of spaced ribs l4 extending up from the seat. At its upper end, the casing has a circumferential flange 15, which seats upon a gasket IS on the end of the bottle neck.

A valve i1 cooperates with the seat l3 to close the opening i2 and the valve includes a head It formed with a flange IQ of greater diameter than the top of the seat, so that the flange overhangs the end wall of the casing adjacent the seat.- At its lower end, the head has a skirt 20, which extends through the opening i2, when the valve is seated, and between the flange and the upper end of the skirt, the valve is formed with a conical surface l9a, which engages the seat. The, surface "a of the valve and the curved surface of the casing at the upper end of the opening i2 define a circumferential pocket, in which a thin film of liquid is retained by adhesion to those surfaces. The opposed surfaces of the skirt and the wall of opening 12 below the seat define a thin annular space, in which another thin film of liquid is retained by adhesion to those surfaces. The importance of forming the valve in such manner as to provide pockets, in which such films of liquid are retained, will be explained later.

The head of the valve is hollow and a tubular stem 2| extends upwardly from the top of the head and has a small opening 22 through its upper end. The valve is preferably so made that it will float in distilled spirits of 100 and lower proofs. To give it such buoyancy, the valve may be made of polyethylene, which has a specific gravity of about .92, or the valve may be formed of a non-buoyant material and then made buoyant by insertion of a perforated disc a, Fig. 7, of cork within the skirt.

A float member 23 rests upon the upper end of the stem 2| of the valve, the lower end of the float member being re-entrant to form a cavity 24 into which the stem 2| extends. The top of the cavity is formed with a rounded projection, which seats upon the edge of the upper end of opening 22 through the valve stem to close that opening under normal conditions. The upper end of the re-entrant portion 0' the float member continues upwardly at 25 to form a seat and the upper end of the float is open around the seat.

A weight 26, preferably a ball, rests upon the seat 25 and normally holds the float member in engagement with the valve and the valve on its seat. The lower portion of the ball lies within the upper end of the casing and the upper part of the ball extends beyond the casing and into the interior of a cover 27. The lower end of the cover telescopes over flange IS on the casing and rests upon gasket 18. At its upper end, the cover has a pouring opening 28 of less diameter than the lower end of the cover and the internal walls as of the cover slope inwardly and upwardly toward the opening.

A guard 3d within the cover overlies the ball, I

and the latter lies within a recess in the lower end of the guard, which is defined by a conical wall having a vertical angle of about 60. The guard is formed with external vertical ribs 35 terminating at their lower ends in lugs 32, which project down below the plane of the bottom of the guard and rest-on top of flange ii of the casing, so as to hold the guard out of contact with the ball, when the bottle is upright. The outer faces of ribs 31 extend parallel to the sloping internal wall of the cover from the lower ends of the ribs to the plane of the top of the sloping wall and, above that plane, the outer faces of the ribs are vertical. At its top end, the guard has an enlarged head 33, illustrated in Fig. l as formed separately from the rest of the guard and having a stem 34 received in the upper end of the main part of the guard and secured in place therein: The diameter of the upper ends of ribs 3! is less than the minimum internal diameter of the cover, while the head of the guard, as shown in Fig. 1. has a diameter somewhat greater than the minimum internal diameter of the cover. With this construction, the head and the main part of the guard are assembled through the cover opening. When the guard is in place upon flange i5 of the casing, the rim of the head 23 lies close to the wall of the opening through the cover and substantially closes that opening but does not engage the cover. If the guard is struck by a blow, the force is transmitted through the guard to the casing flange and bottle neck and no force, which might damage the valve, is applied thereto.

The closure is secured to the neck of the bottle in any convenient way and, in the construction illustrated, a metal ferrule 35 is telescoped over the lower end of the cover and secured thereon by having its upper end embedded in a circumferential channel in the cover. The lower end of the ferrule is then slipped over the end of the neck Of the bottle and held in place by having a bead 36 formed into a circumferential channel on the outside of the bottle neck.

A fitment of the construction described resists refilling by any method which involves agitation of the valve to unseat it, because the liquid films in the pockets defined by the conical surface Isa and the surface of the skirt 2' of the valve and the opposed surfaces of the casing above and below the seat adhere to the surfaces defining the pockets and the cohesion of the liquid is sufllcient to retain the valve seated despite a'gltation. If an attempt is made to refill the bottle by holding it inverted with the longitudinal axis of the casing lying at less than al 0' proximately 30 to the horizontal, the inclined surface of the guard will extend downwardly from the open end of the cover, and the ball will roll down the inclined surface of the guard and move to float member and valve to seat the valve. If the bottle is held inverted with the axis of the casing at an angle of about 30 to the horizontal and with the inner surface of the guard horizontal, the ball will have moved away from the casing during the inverting operation and the float member and valve will have moved with it to the positions shown in Fig. 4. Liquid may now be introduced through the cover opening and, when the liquid rises to the level indicated by the line A in Fig. 4, the liquid will close the open end of the float member and trap air in the space 91. The trapped air makes the float member more buoyant at the end near the valve than at the opposite end and, because of this difference in buoyancy, the float member will float in the liquid with its longitudinal axis at an angle to the horizontal, which is approximately complementary to the vertical angle of the inner conical surface on the guard. The axis of the float is thus approximately parallel to the axis of the casing. when the bottle is held inverted with the axis of the casing at an angle of about 30 to the horizontal. As the liquid level rises, the float member will move upwardly,

' advancing'the valve with it toward the seat, and.

because of the inclined position of the float member and of ribs I 4, the friction of the float member on the ribs will not be sufllcient to prevent the float member from moving through the casing to seat the valve. The closing of the opening II by the valve will occur before any substantial quantity has entered the bottle. If the bottle is held inverted with the axis of the casing at an angle to the horizontal substantially greater than 30, the friction of the float member on the ribs will be less than in the preceding case and, as before, the float member will move with the valve to seat it, as the liquid level rises through the fitment.

The sensitivity and reliability in operation of the new closure may be increased by such a choice of materials for the opposed surfacesof the casing and float member that the coeflicient of sliding friction of the opposed surfaces is so low that they slide relative to one another with a continuous smooth motion. Both the casing and float member are preferably made of moldable synthetic material of relatively low specific gravity. as, for example, under 1.10, and the material used must be one whi h permits accurate molding of the parts and neither affects nor is affected by alcoholic sol tions. Polystyrene is a desirable material for the casing and float member, but if a smooth molded polystyrene float member is em loyed with a smooth polystyrene casing. the float member may occasionally stick on the guide ribs of the casing, as the member rises with liquid entering the fitment during attempted refilling. Such sticking of the float member may be sufllcient to prevent the valve from seating, at least momentarily, so that more liquid may enter the bottle than would otherwise be permitted. If a polystyrene article is dipped into a solvent. such as methyl ethyl ketone, and then quickly removed, the solvent attacks the outer surface of the article and causes such minor surface irregularities that the treated polystyrene article will slide smoothly on a polystyrene article with a smooth untreated surface. Accordingly, the new fitment may be made extremely sensitive in operation by forming the casing and float member of polystyrene and of the casing are smooth, or vice versa.

Another combination of materials which have characteristics making them satisfactory for use for the float member and casing is polystyrene and polyethylene. These materialsslide smoothly upon one another without sticking and, when such materials are used in combination, the polystyrene need not be treated, as above described, although such treatment is not objectionable.

Because of its low specific gravity, the use of polyethylene for the float member adds to the buoyancy of the latter and simplifies the production of the float member, in that it need not be a sealed chamber or need not be constructed to trap air. It would be possible to prevent sticking of the float member on the ribs oi the casing by making the float member of polystyrene and applying a thin layer of polyethylene on the surface of the member opposed to the ribs. However, the use of two materials for the float member would complicate its production and it is,.therefore, preferable to make the float member entirely of polyethylene.

When the float member is made of polyethylene, it may be given the modifled form shown in Fig. 5. The alternative float member is open at the end, which is to lie adjacent the valve, and the reduced buoyancy at the end of the float remote from the valve is obtained by increasing the thickness of the wall of the closed end of the float, as indicated at 38.

If materials, which slide smoothly upon one another, are used for the float member and casing,'the float member may be of the closed chamber type, and float 39 (Fig. 6) is of that construction. Float member 39 is generally similar to that of Fig. 1, except that its upper end is closed by a plate 40 and the stem 4| which extends from the re-entrant end of the float is of lighter construction than stem 25. Float member 39 is not more buoyant at one end than the other and, therefore, does not float with its longitudinal axis at an angle to the horizontal. In an attempted refilling operation with the bottle held as shown at Fig. 4, float member 39 would have a greater drag on the ribs of the casing than float member 23, for example. However, the Fig. 6 float member can be used, provided the materials employed for the member and the casing, in which it is used, are selected as above pointed out.

The guard 30 shown in Fig. l is made up of two parts secured together, and the two-part construction is required, if the diameter of the head 33 is greater than the minimum internal diameter of the cover. If desired, the head of the guard may have a diameter permitting it to be passed through the cover opening and, in that event, the guard may be of one-piece construction, as exemplified by guard 42 of Fig. 4, or it may be made with a detachable head 43, as shown in Fig. 8.

The modified form of fitment shown in Fig. 9 includes a casing 44 insertable into the neck of a bottle and having a flange 45 overlying a gasket 46 resting on the end of the bottle neck. The casing is formed with an opening through its lower end 41 and a rib 48 with a half-round top surrounds the opening. A plurality of guiding projections in the form of spaced ribs 49 extend up from the lower end of the casing along the inner wall thereof. The opening is normally closed by a valve fill, which has a hollow head provided at its top with a flange iii. A cylindrical skirt projects downwardly from the lower end of the head and the head is formed with a curved surface 53 between the flange and the upper end of the skirt. When the valve is in position to close the opening, the skirt extends through the opening and the spherical surface seats upon the rounded surface of rib 48. A tubular stem 54 projects up from the head and the upper end of the stem is closed, except for a small passage 55 therethrough.

A float member 58 rests upon the valve, when the bottle is in upright position, and the member has a re-entrant lower end provided at the top with a projection 5?, which seats upon the stem and closes the opening 55. The inner surface of the re-entrant cavity is formed with ribs 58, which tends to center the end of the stem 54, so that the projection 51 will close opening 55. The float member is closed at its upper end by a plug 59, which has an extension 60 from its lower surface engaging the inner upper end of the re-entrant portion of the float member. The plug is of substantial thickness and gives the float member a weight distribution, such that the member will float in liquid with its longitudinal axis inclined to the horizontal, as illustrated in Fig. 12.

The upper end of casing 44 is closed by a cover 6i having an opening 62 at its top. The cover telescopes over flange 45 to rest upon gasket 46 and is held in place by a ferrule 63, the upper end of which is embedded in a circumferential channel in the cover. At its lower end, the ferrule telescopes over the end of the bottle neck and is forced into a channel in the outer surface of the bottle neck, as indicated at 54.

A ball weight 65 rests on the upper end of the float member, the outer end 59a of the plug being made slightly concave to center the ball. A guard 66 lies within the cover above the ball and has a hollow lower end into which the ball extends. The inner surface of the lower end vided with the fitment shown in Fig. 9, while the bottle is held in inclined inverted position, the parts of the fitment function as previously described to resist the entrance of liquid into the bottle. With the axis of the bottle held below a critical angle to the horizontal, the ball rolls down the inner surface of the guard and moves the float and valve to seat the latter. If the bottle is held at an angle such that the ball has no tendency to roll and seat the valve and liquid rises through the fitment, the float member 56 floats in the liquid with its a is substantially parallel to the axis of the casing and the friction that develops between the float member and the ribs is so slight that it does not prevent the float from advancing through the casing and moving the valve with it to seat the latter.

For extreme sensitivity, it is desirable to make casing 44 and float member 56 of a. combination of materials that will slide smoothly upon one another, as above explained. Since the float member is a closed hollow body, it need not be made of buoyant material, but, if the float member is made of polystyrene, for example, it is desirable to make the ribs of polyethylene. Both the float member and ribs may be made of polystyrene, provided either the float member or ribs are treated to give the surface minor irregularities. as above described.

When a bottle equipped with the new fitment in any of the forms disclosed is tilted to pouring position, at a time when there is no partial vacuum within the bottle as a result of temperature changes, the ball immediately forces the uard to outer position as shown in Fig. 4, and the float member follows the ball. Ordinarily, there is a small quantity of liquid trapped in the space between the surface of the re-entrant end of the float member and the outer surface of the valve 45 stem, and, because of the adhesion of the liquid of the guard is conical and extends at an angle of about 30 to the vertical. The guard is formed with external vertical ribs 61, and is provided at its upper end with a head 68, which has a stem 680. received in the recess in the lower part of the guard. In the construction shown, the guard is supported by a contact of the edge of its head on the flaring internal surface at the upper end of the cover opening, and, in order to prevent the guard from being held tightly in place by vacuums developed within the bottle by temperature changes, the edge of the head is formed with a plurality of notches 69, through which air may enter the fitment.

The lower end 41 of the casing adjacent the opening and the valve are so formed as to provide pockets retaining films of liquid which tend to hold the valve on its seat. Thus, the skirt 52 of the valve lies slightly spaced from the inner wall of opening, when the valve is seated, andv the annular space between the opposed surfaces of the casing wall and skirt provides a pocket, in which a thin film B of liquid is retained because of its adhesion to those surfaces. Similarly, the curved surface 53 of the valve and the rounded top of rib 48 of the casing define a pocket, in which another film of liquid C is retained by adhesion to those surfaces. The cohesion ofthe two films in relation to the weight of the to those surfaces and the cohesion of the liquid, the float member and valve move downwardly in unison. The unseating of the valve is thus made more certain because of the weight of the float 50 member clinging to it and there is less likelihood of the valve being reseated by the action of air entering the bottle during pouring. The cohesive effect of the film beneath the valve, which tends to hold the valve on its seat, is overcome, as soon 55 as the liquid in the bottle strikes the under-surface of the valve. If the bottle is tilted to pouring position, when there is a partial vacuum within the bottle, the float member will move away from the valve and air will enter the bottle through the opening at the end of the valve stem.

The float member and valve are now separated and, in order to unseat the valve, it is usually necessary to right the bottle again and then tilt it again. As the bottle is righted, the float member moves toward the valve and the cohesive film between the reentrant end of the float member and valve stem is again established. Upon the next tilting of the bottle to pouring position, the float member draws the valve with it away from the valve seat.

sion. Also, such adhesion is desirable, if the valve nae-mes is made of buoyant material, in order that, when liquid rises through, the fitment during attempted refilling, the valve will not move away from the float member and permit liquid to enter the bottle through the opening at the end of the valve stem.

The adhesion of the liquid between a surface of polystyrene and a source of polyethylene is better than between two surfaces of polyethylene and the pouring operation of the fitment is, accordingly, improved when the float member and the valve are made of polystyrene and polyethylene, respectively. The best results are obtained, when the float member is of the hollow-ended type shown in Fig. 1, since such a float member is so light in weight that it is not likely to separate from the valve, before a pouring angle has been reached at which the valve may be drawn from its seat with the float member because of the cohesion of the liquid between them.

In the fltments illustrated, the casing is formed with spaced ribs, which guide the float member and valve in their movements through the casing. The float member and valve must be of substantially less diameter than the casing in order to provide space, through which liquid may flow past the valve and float member during pouring. Because of the different diameters of the float member and valve and the casing, guiding means are required for the float member and valve to insure that the valve will be properly seated. It is more convenient to form the guiding projections on the interior surface of the casing, but it will be evident that such projections could be formed on the lateral surfaces of the float and valve, if desired. Also, it is not necessary that the guiding means take the form of ribs, and projections in any suitable arrangement, which do not interfere with the flow of the liquid through the casing past the float member and valve, would be equally suitable.

It will be observed that, when the bottle is in pouring position, as shown in Fig. 4, and the float and valve are in their outermost positions away from the valve seat, the outer end of the float extends beyond the outer ends of the projections I4 on the casing, so that the outer end of the float is unguided. Similarly, if the projections are formed on the float and valve, instead of on the inner surface of the casing, then, when the float and valve are in their outermost positions, portions of the projections on the 'float will lie outside the casing and will be ineffective to guide the float. Thus, with either construction, the effective length of the projections terminates short of the outer end of the path of travel of the float and valve as limited by the ball and guard,

.and the outer end of the float is unguided during the movements of the float and valve toward and away fromthe valve seat.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application Serial No. 588,193, flled April 13, 1945, which has been abandoned.

I claim:

1. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooper.- ating with the casing to form a chamber and having a pouring opening, buoyant valve means within the chamber freely movable toward and away from the seat, the valve means being more buoyant at the end adjacent the seat than at the other end, a ball weight in the chamber above the valve means, means within the chamber above the ball limiting the movement of the ball and valve means in a direction away from the seat and providing a conical guiding surface for the ball, and projections on the inner surface of the casing adjacent the seat for guiding the valve means in its movement,the effective length of the projections terminating short of the outer end of the path of travel of the valve means away from the seat, the difference in buoyancy at opposite ends of the valve means being such that, when it floats freely in liquid introduced through the pouring opening, when the vessel is inverted, it assumes a position with its axis maka ing an angle to the horizonal approximately com plementary to the vertical angle of said conical ball guiding'surface.

2. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, buoyant valve means within the chamber freely movable toward and away from the seat, means limiting the movement of the valve means away from the seat, and projections on the inner surface of the casing adjacent the seat for guiding the valve means in its movement, the effective length of the projections terminating short of the outer end of the path of travel of the valve means away from the seat, one of the opposed surfaces of the valve means and the projections being of polyethylene.

3. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, buoyant valve means within the chamber freely movable toward and awa from the seat, means limiting the movement of the valve means away from the seat, and projections on the inner surface of the casing adjacent the seat for guiding the valve means in its movement, the effective length of the projections terminating short of the outer end of the path of travel of the valve means away from the seat, the surface of the valve means opposed to the projections being of polyethylene.

4. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, buoyant valve means within the chamber freely movable toward and away from the seat, the valve means being formed with a cavity open at its end remote from the seat, a central abutment within the cavity at the open end thereof, a ball weight within the chamber above the valve means, the outer end of the abutment terminating within the confines of said cavity, means within the chamber limiting the movement of the ball and valve means away from the seat and providing a sloping surface down which the ball may roll toward the seat, when the vessel is held inverted with the axis of the neck at a small angle to the horizontal, the ball engaging the abutment in such movement and moving the valve means toward the seat, and projections on the inner surface of the casing adjacent the seat for guiding the valve means.

5. Ina closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, the

cover being of reduced diameter adjacent its free end and having a pouring opening at said end, buoyant valve means within the chamber freely movable toward and away from the seat, a ball weight in the chamber above the valve means, means within the chamber above the ball limiting the movement of the ball and valve means in a direction away from the seat and including a head lying within the end of and closing the pouring opening, when the vesel is upright, and a shank integral with the head, the diameter of the head being less than the smallest diameter of the cover and the shank being of substantially less diameter than the pouring opening and the portion of the cover leading thereto to provide a passage for liquid between the shank and the inner wall of the cover, and projections on the inner surface of the casing for guiding the valve means in its movement toward and away from the seat.

6. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, buoyant valve means within the chamber movable toward and away from the seat, said buoyant valve means including a valve member for engagement with the valve seat and a float member unconnected to said valve member but which in upright position of the vessel rests on said valve member, means within the chamber limiting the movement of the valve means away from the seat, and projections on the inner surface of the casing for guiding the valve means in its movement, the eflective'length of the projections terminating short of the outer end of the path of travel of the valve means away from the seat, the opposed surfaces of the float member of the valve means and projections having such relatively low coemcient of sliding friction that when the neck of the vessel is submerged at an angle of about 30 to the horizontal and said float member is subjected solely to forces of buoyancy, the float member will engage and slide along said projections towards the closed position of the valve means with a continuous smooth motion.

7. In a closure for a vessel having a neck, the combination of a casing adapted to be secured to the neck to close the latter and having an opening surrounded by a valve seat, a cover cooperating with the casing to form a chamber, buoyant valve means within the chamber movable toward and away from the seat, said buoyant valve means including a valve member for engagement with the valve seat and a float member unconnected to said valve member but which in upright position of the vessel rests on said valve ineu'lbef', said float member during movement of the valve means towards the valve seat sliding along a portion of the casinnmeans within the chamber limiting the movement of the valve means away from the seat, the surfaces of said float member and the casing which engage during movement of the valve means towards its seat having such relatively low coeflicient of sliding friction that when the neck of the vessel is submerged at an angle of about 30 to the horizontal and said float member is subjected solely to forces of buoyancy, the float member will slide along said portion of the casing towards the closed position of the valve means with a continuous smooth motion.

8. A closure for a vessel having a neck as set forth in claim 7 in which the valve member has a skirt portion which extends into the opening surrounded by the valve seat, and in which said skirt portion together with the wall of the opening defines an annular space of such restricted radial width that when the valve is seated on the valve seat and the wall of the opening and the skirt are wetted liquid will be retained in said annular spaie by adhesion to the surfaces of said wall and skir 9. A closure for a vessel having a neck as set forth in claim 7 in which the float member of the valve means has a cavity open at the end of the float member remote from the valve seat.

10. A closure for a vessel having a neck as set forth in claim '7 in which the valve member has an air vent through it, the float member seats upon the valve member to close said vent when the vessel is in upright position, the valve member and the float member have parts telescoping one another, and one of the contiguous surfaces of the telescoping parts has projections for guiding the movement of said parts relative to one another to insure operative alignment of the air vent seating surfaces of the valve member and float member.

EDGEWORTH GREENE.

REFERENCES orrEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

